Camcorder PJ620. Monitor useless when filming outdoors

[movie-man]

Bought the PJ620 yesterday, spent yesterday evening setting it up and tried it outdoors today. I have altered the monitor brightness to "bright", as I did with my older CX410.

I noticed the problem when trying to angle the monitor to avoid the reflection from the sky. If I angle it with the top of the monitor towards me then the screen goes so dark that it is difficult to see what I am filming. The brightness of the monitor is excellent if I move the top of the monitor away from me, but then the subject is hard to see because of the brightness from the sky.

I have emailed Sony support today to complain about it. Is it likely to be a faulty monitor or just a design fault?

If you can't understand the way I've explained the problem, just say & I will try and take a photo of the camcorder monitors side by side to show the CX410 monitor was bright at any angle, unlike the 620.

Is it a fault for Sony to deal with, or the shop I bought it from? I obviously want the use of it, not to have to send it off for investigation and be without it for weeks. A prompt reply would be appreciated, as I want to follow correct procedure.

Thanks in anticipation.

[jumpsuit]

Sorry to hear about that

Although I usually love conspiracy theories unfortunately I don't think that Sony are deliberately manipulating faulty goods.

I will escalate this for you just to see if we can get a response about any known faults.

It may take a few days to hear anything but I will post any news in this thread.

If you hear anything then let us know.

[movie-man]

Thanks Jumpy,

Will watch out for any replies, but from where I'm sat & what I've seen, it doesn't look very good. Unfortunately I didn't get as far as making a note of serial numbers - that might've helped any investigation.

[jumpsuit]

Hi again

I fully understand.

I'd be a little wary of that model too after your experiences.

At least you have the store details etc where you purchased it from in case Sony want to investigate the possiblility

of a bad batch / model fault.

Hopefully someone will be in touch with us soon-ish.

[movie-man]

Just in case anybody thinks I have been "nasty" with Sony, read my original email:-

"Bought camcorder yesterday, used it today outdoors and the monitor display is too dull to use in bright weather. The monitor brightness is set to "bright", but that does not help much. The display has to be angled forwards to get adequate brightness, than the sky reflects on it and you can't see what you're filming. Angle it back to avoid the sky and the display get progressively darker. Didn't have this problem on my CX410, that could be angled forward or backwards with constant brightness. Other than that, everything seems good. I've had the CX410 for 2 years, so think I know what I'm doing!!
Is it a fault or poor design? If they're all the same then it's a bit of a disaster!! No pleasure in trying to film with it.
A quick response would be appreciated, I have only had it 24 hours!!"

The following was their reply:-

"Thank you for contacting Support regarding your HDR-PJ620.

We are sorry to learn of the difficulties that you are experiencing when attempting to use the camcorder.

In regards to your query, Kindly try the below on the camera.

http://helpguide.sony.net/cam/1420/v1/en/contents/TP0000557893.html?search=brightness

http://helpguide.sony.net/cam/1420/v1/en/contents/TP0000557903.html

Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this email.

Yours sincerely"

Following the link, it tells me how to increase brightness, which my original email indicates I had already done!

My follow up email to Sony was still very polite, but I have received no replies:-

"Thanks for the reply. I did state originally that the monitor was set to "bright", so we are no further forward to find a fix.

Whilst waiting for a reply I did a comparison between the 620 and my old CX410. It seems as if the monitor screen is upside down - if I place the 2 camcorders side by side and angle the screens up and down, the 410 stays bright when it is angled down but the 620 goes dark. Then if I angle the screen up the 410 goes dark but the 620 stays light, that just doesn't work when trying to film outdoors as you need to stop the reflection from the sky.

I will be taking it back to the shop tomorrow.

Regards,

So, can anybody see a reason why Sony did not reply?

My next email to them, no response of course:-

"Further to my reply yesterday, I spent ages in the store discussing the problem. They didn't seem happy that I wanted a refund or replacement. I had my old CX410 with me and showed the camcorders side by side so they could see what I was complaining about. Seems they accept it could be a bad batch or poor quality control. I said I would await your response before deciding.

Is it possible the LCD display could be mounted upside down with the casing? To me it looks as if reversing it would be the solution.

An immediate response would be appreciated, please!"

And there was no response. Think it was at this point I decided they had a major problem to deal with, and didn't know what to do!

[movie-man]

It's the end of the week and still no email from Sony since the only one they sent on 31/08/15.

Anyway, here is the next email I sent them on 01/09/15, still very polite, as you will see:-

"No replies to my last emails to you, so I suggest you look at my post in the Sony community forum. It includes 4 photos which compare the monitors of the 620 and my old 410. Perhaps now you will understand why I find it so difficult to use outdoors. As before, I would appreciate a prompt reply and a prompt resolution to the problem.

(I included a link to this topic for Sony to read)
 

So, I politely asked for a prompt reply and a prompt resolution - but, they did nothing.

There is one more email I sent them, still very polite, I will add that next week. Maybe Sony will contact me before then, or maybe not!! Time will tell.

[movie-man2]

Couldn't log in with my earlier name & password, tried to get the password reset - but no email come through.

So, many weeks on from last posting, nothing heard from Sony - they just don't care???????

Went into another retail outlet today and asked to see the PJ620 they had on display. Explained the problem I had with the one I bought & showed the assistant how the LCD worked on my CX410. His words when he had a play with the display model - "the LCD does seem upside down"!

Then I went to a Sony shop and asked to see the 620 they had in the cabinet, and that LCD was exactly the same!

I've no idea what this all proves, the UK has all the faulty ones or the design is just plain rubbish?? How can the cheaper ones I was shown a month or so ago work what I would call "properly", but the more expensive one work incorrectly?

I now have a problem about what to replace my 2 year old CX410 with, doesn't look like it will be a Sony. I want something with a similar zoom facility that the next model up does not have. That was why the 620 should have been "perfect" for me. The cheaper ones don't have a facility to attach a lens hood or microphone.

Anybody know how to turn an LCD unit upside down?